Shabbat Gathering: The Nine Days.

Dear Chevra, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:

Zoom
Meeting ID: 963 5113 1550
Password: 1989
Phone: +1 312 626 6799

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Special Note: In this week’s PS, there’s an update on Josh’s concert last week and their new album that’s available.

Here we go.

Today is the third day of Av, our current Jewish month. Av is a sad month on our calendar, and this is one of the saddest times in the whole month.

The Three Weeks.

Two weeks ago, on July 6, began a period called the Three Weeks. It’s a period of time that kicks off a crescendo of mourning that peaks on July 26 and 27, Tisha B’Av. Tisha B’Av is the saddest day of the year. I wrote about why it’s the saddest day of the year last year and you can read about it here.

During the Three Weeks, some Jews don’t do these things:

- Have weddings
- Listen to music
- Shave or have haircuts
- Make make major purchases such as a new home or a car

The Nine Days.

Today is the third day of a period of time called the Nine Days. The ninth day is Tisha B’Av. The Nine Days represents a period of time during the Three Weeks when Tisha B’Av is almost here.

During the Nine Days, some Jews begin the observance of a special, heightened mourning period. The eight days before Tisha B’Av are like a practice period for the mourning of Tisha B’Av. The Nine Days are the last nine days of the three weeks.

During the Nine Days, these activities are added to the list of things some Jews chose not to do:

- Home improvements and new construction
- Planting trees, flowers, grass
- Laundry of clothes, towels, tablecloths, bedding
- Wearing clean clothes
- Eating meat
- Drinking wine or grape juice
- Swimming
- Listening to music

On Tisha B’Av, these activities are added to the list,

- Bathing
- Wearing perfume
- Wearing leather shoes
- Sex
- Greeting people

Taking away these activities, especially the pleasurable ones, is supposed to focus us on what we’re mourning. Taking away this activities is also supposed to be a way to enhance our ability for introspection.

Constantly challenge the dominant paradigm.

Reform, Renewal, Reconstruction, Conservative, and Modern Orthodox Jews all believe our faith and its practices need to be constantly examined and questioned and not just accepted as the way things are just because they’ve always been that way. We believe that if you aren’t challenging the status quo and arguing with authority, you simply aren’t doing Jewish right.  For me, not listening to music for nine days is psychologically impossible. Give up meat and doing laundry? Not so much of a sacrifice but s0mething I’ll notice observing.

So, regarding how we mourn, some of our observances make sense in the first quarter of the 21stC. And some observances drop away from us. Others are added. Our faith flexes over time to respect where we are in the world and across time. After the destruction of the second temple, Rabbinic Judaism rose out of those ashes and fundamentally changed how we practiced our faith. Some believe Jews, especially right now, live in a similar time when we need to deeply reexamine how we practice and what we believe in.

For me, mourning has become quite personal as I am observing a year-long mourning period for my mother and aunt. Mourning and introspection is something that’s very meaningful to me.

What do you find when you look inside?

Tisha B’Av and the Nine Days leading up to it all point us to the High Holy Days coming up in the middle of September, a period of celebration and more introspection. I never know what I’ll find when I look inside me. And that’s the point. Experience shows me that some of the things I discover will be ok and might even make me proud. Other things might make me ashamed and make me feel as if I've wasted my life.

And so it goes for another year.

And may it be for all of us a blessing.

See you tonight!
Gut Shabbes!

All my love,
brian.

PS

Last Sunday, our good friend Josh Ruebeck gave a concert in Chicago to celebrate the release of their new album, Measuring Marigolds. The concert was a big success. Stormy and Maria were there to support Josh. Please consider offering your own support by enjoying their album:

Here are a couple of pictures from the concert.

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